A diesel locomotive could cost from $500,000-$2 million. While an electric locomotive could cost more than $6 million. Price depends on whether it is powered by AC or DC traction, how much horsepower it has, or what electronics it is equipped with.
What Makes A Diesel Locomotive Work? The ignition of diesel fuel pushes pistons connected to an electric generator. The resulting electricity powers motors connected to the wheels of the locomotive. Diesel fuel is stored in a fuel tank and delivered to the engine by an electric fuel pump.
The word locomotive originates from the Latin loco – "from a place", ablative of locus "place", and the Medieval Latin motivus, "causing motion", and is a shortened form of the term locomotive engine, which was first used in 1814 to distinguish between self-propelled and stationary steam engines.
At present, Indian railways has a fleet of 19,000 passenger and goods trains. Of these, about 5,000 trains run on diesel consuming nearly 300 crore litre of fuel every year.
Although UK train manufacture may be thriving, at present Bombardier's Derby plant is the only one where new trains are designed.
Hitachi Rail and Bombardier have bid for the £2.75 billion HS2 contract to build at least 54 new trains. Two UK-based rail giants are submitting a 'Great British' train proposal to High Speed Two (HS2) that would be the most advanced, customer-oriented train ever to run in the UK.
Another reason for not turning off diesel train engines, lies in the engine itself. It is also interesting to know that while diesel locomotives are idling, fuel consumption is more than when the train is moving. This is because, while idling, the batteries are being charged, and the air compression is in operation.
Diesel power seemed to promise both. According to the designers, diesel engines could run faster and work longer than steam locomotives. They were more fuel-efficient; they didn't require frequent stops to replenish coal and water. Steam locomotives also required costly maintenance.
Another reason for not turning off diesel train engines, lies in the engine itself. It is also interesting to know that while diesel locomotives are idling, fuel consumption is more than when the train is moving. This is because, while idling, the batteries are being charged, and the air compression is in operation.
The Union Pacific Centennial is the largest and most powerful diesel locomotive ever built.
A train may have two or locomotives for: extra power, if the train is heavy. better reliability (two locos are very unlikely to both fail) if one at each end, so the train can run to and fro without needing to move the loco around it at each change of direction.
Technology eventually advanced such that the railroads, in an effort to save money and reduce crew members, stated that a caboose was unnecessary, since bearings were improved and lineside detectors were used to detect hot boxes and better-designed cars avoided problems with the loads.
Making all that commerce move down the track are train locomotives. But some of the locomotives face backwards as they move down the tracks, seeming to one 2News viewer that they are being inefficiently dragged down the tracks. Thus, the direction of the locomotive makes no difference to efficiency or safety.
Unlike conventional trains, the turbo variety does not have a separate locomotive; its turbine power unit is small enough to be built into a passenger car. A typical turbo train consists of several passenger cars with power units located in each of the end cars.
The use of a diesel engine frees the locomotive from being coupled to an external electricity supply, and the use of electric motors and drives allows control over the traction capabilities of the locomotive which would not be possible with a direct drive from the diesel engine.
The AC6000CW is a 6,000-horsepower (4,500 kW) diesel electric locomotive built by GE Transportation. It is among the world's most powerful single-engined diesel locomotives.
Progress Rail Locomotives, doing business as Electro-Motive Diesel (EMD) is an American manufacturer of diesel-electric locomotives, locomotive products and diesel engines for the rail industry. The company is owned by Caterpillar through its subsidiary Progress Rail Services.
The AC6000CW is a 6,000-horsepower (4,500 kW) diesel electric locomotive built by GE Transportation. It is among the world's most powerful single-engined diesel locomotives.
(19 tons x 500 miles) / 71 gallons = 134 ton-miles per gallon. This efficiency might be stated as “a truck can move a ton of freight 134 miles on a gallon of fuel.” Similarly, a typical train might haul 3,000 tons of freight 500 miles and consume approximately 3,049 gallons of diesel fuel.
Though trains are more efficient than trucks, not all trains are equally efficient. Diesel-powered trains transfer about 30-35 percent of the energy generated by combustion to the wheels, while supplying electricity directly from an overhead powerline transfers about 95 percent of the energy to the wheels.
The G.E. unit is a leading manufacturer of locomotives for freight trains, and it had sales of $4.2 billion in 2017. The combined company, Wabtec and G.E. executives said, will be stronger, have a broader mix of rail operations and become a Fortune 500 corporation.
A railway electrification system supplies electric power to railway trains and trams without an on-board prime mover or local fuel supply. In comparison to the principal alternative, the diesel engine, electric railways offer substantially better energy efficiency, lower emissions, and lower operating costs.
A diesel locomotive has to carry its own fuel around with it and there has to be enough for a reasonable length of trip. The fuel tank is normally under the loco frame and will have a capacity of say 1,000 imperial gallons (UK Class 59, 3,000 hp) or 5,000 US gallons in a General Electric AC4400CW 4,400 hp locomotive.
Torque of the diesel engine. Operation of the diesel generally occurs at about 1100 rpm thus the torque can be found from P=Tw about 21,000 ft lbs. Now if you are looking for the torque of the traction motors, that is a different matter.
Today, there is still one steam locomotive operating on a Class I railroad in the U.S., the Union Pacific 844. For the most part, though, the U.S. and the rest of the world have converted to electric and diesel.
One unit can easily pull 100 cars on the flat if you only want it to go 10-12 mph. Put it on a 2% grade and a 3000 hp unit can only pull about 6-8 cars at about 15 mph. Western RRs usually rate their trains in Horsepower/ton.
Chicago:World Book, 2000. "Most electric locomotives weigh between 100 and 200 short tons (90 and 180 metric tons) and provide about 6000 to 7000 horsepower (4500 to 5200 kilowatts)."
Chicago:World Book, 2000. "Most electric locomotives weigh between 100 and 200 short tons (90 and 180 metric tons) and provide about 6000 to 7000 horsepower (4500 to 5200 kilowatts)." Pennsylvania Railroad Diesel Locomotive Pictorial Fairbanks-Morse Locomotives.
